admin A few weeks ago I have uploaded a video on YouTube about tips on how to meal plan. If you missed it, click here to check it out. But before diving into this blog post, let me go back a few steps and give you some background about meal planning.
If you are just starting to meal plan, it can feel an overwhelming task, but once you have got the hang of it, it’s pretty straight forward.
The benefits of meal planning can be blown out of proportion and although it does solve many of your meal problems, you have to make it fit for your needs and your lifestyle. So give yourself time, to experiment and see what works and what does not work for you.
Meal planning is not about having endless recipes or having to cook gourmet food every day. It’s not about having home cooked dinners every night, allow yourself take outs and pizza nights. It’s not expensive, on the contrary, it will save you money in the long run. It’s about being flexible, life happens so it’s ok to change things around.
You are meal planning the wrong way if:
- You are going to the supermarket, buying what you fancy and you meal plan depending on what you bought;
- You pull out a recipe book or search on Pinterest choose a recipe and go buy the ingredients.
The most effective and money saving way to meal planning is to use what you already have in your pantry, freezer and fridge first. It is only after you have used what you have, that you go and buy what you need for example fresh produce or to replenish items you have used.
I have come up with a list of items you should have, which I am pretty sure most of you already have and then it is just a matter of you combining everything together:
Freezer
- Selection of meat such as red meat, pork, chicken and fish;
- Frozen vegetables
- Frozen fruit
- Frozen sausage, pizza and chicken nuggets (because yes, sometimes you want something quick, especially if you have small kids)
Fridge
- Eggs
- Fresh vegetables and fruit
- Milk
- Butter
- Cream cheese (you can also freeze cream cheese)
- Bacon
- Bread
- Wraps
Pantry
- Different types of pasta
- Canned items such as beans, tuna
- Rice
- Couscous
- Vinegar – white vinegar, red vinegar, balsamic vinegar
- Oil – olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Spices
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Garlic
- Flour – self raising, plain flour, flour 00
- Breadcrumbs
- Tomato paste
- Pasta Sauces
- Condiments such as salad dressing, mustard, mayonnaise
- Soups
If you have these staples on hand and few additional ingredients (specific to a recipe) you can make any recipe.
Always have family favorite recipes, where you know you cannot go wrong. When searching for recipes on the internet, do not search for chicken as you will get tons of recipes, but search for a specific ingredient or a combination of ingredients.
Once you have your meal plan set, draw up your grocery list for missing ingredients and to replenish the staple items that you would be using.
When you are confident with meal planning, then you can move a step further and start preparing freezer meal. In this manner, you would be stocking up your freezer with ready made meals, that you would include in your next meal plan.
As you get confident, with meal planning for your dinners, you can move on to lunches and breakfasts.
You should not be discouraged if you do not succeed at the first attempt….keep trying you will get there.
Love
Strugglingmum xxx
